Khulna – Accompanying Dalit communities on their journey of human development and faith by providing education, social support and proclaiming the Gospel as an experience of liberation. This is one of the distinctive missions of the Catholic community in the Diocese of Khulna, in southwestern Bangladesh, where the majority of Catholics come from Dalit communities—the “untouchables,” traditionally marginalized within Bengali society.
“In our pastoral ministry among the Dalits, we focus primarily on human development projects and on helping them educate their children. We support them in finding employment, sustaining their families and addressing their everyday needs. Caritas is also deeply committed to serving these communities,” Bishop James Romen Boiragi of Khulna told Fides.
The Church’s commitment, however, extends beyond social development. “These aspects are important, but above all we devote ourselves to catechesis and educational support,” the Bishop said. “There are around 37,000 Catholics in my diocese, and the majority come from Dalit communities.”
The presence of Dalits in Bangladesh is a little-known historical reality. It is estimated that between three and five million people in the country belong to Dalit communities, descendants of groups historically relegated to the margins of South Asia’s caste system. Although Bangladesh today is a largelyMuslim nation, , its social structure has inherited and maintained deeply rooted hierarchical patterns and practices of untouchability from its Hindu past.
Many Dalits continue to perform occupations traditionally regarded as “impure,” such as street sweeping, sewer cleaning, waste collection and other low-paid manual labor. Although Bangladesh’s Constitution prohibits all forms of discrimination, Dalits continue to experience social exclusion, limited access to education, difficulty accessing the labor market and inadequate housing conditions.
The Khulna region, a major urban and industrial hub in the country’s southwest, is home to a large Dalit population—estimated at around 500,000 people—linked to specifici historical, economic and geographical factors. Many Dalit families live in peripheral neighborhoods, slums and informal settlements under precarious conditions. The Diocese of Khulna, established in 1952 and now part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Dhaka, covers eight districts in southwestern Bangladesh. Through its parishes, Catholic schools, Caritas programs and numerous pastoral initiatives, the Church has accompanied Dalit communities for decades, promoting education, vocational training and social integration.
According to Bishop Boiragi, the caste system in Bangladesh is not as rigid today as it is in other parts of South Asia, yet its consequences remain evident. “Some people from the Hindu community are still affected by it, as are the Dalits. In society at large, among both Muslims and Hindus, this problem still exists,” he said.
For many Dalits, conversion to Christianity also represents a path toward human and social redemption: “When members of the Dalit community convert to Christianity,” the Bishop explained, “they are treated with greater respect, whereas they are normally discriminated against. Conversion also becomes a way of improving their living conditions.” The ecclesial community seeks to ensure that this transformation leads to full integration. “We try to help them become fully integrated into society, also thanks to the good relationships we maintain with other religious communities. At the same time, we encourage our faithful to welcome them as brothers and sisters,” he noted.
For Dalits, Bishop Boiragi stressed, encountering the Gospel also means rediscovering their dignity. “To embrace Christ’s message is to rediscover the dignity of being children of God. It is an experience of liberation from the yoke of oppression and marginalization. It is also a concrete way of improving one’s life, because it often opens access to education, personal growth and development opportunities that create new possibilities.”
In the Diocese of Khulna, the Church’s mission continues to unite evangelization and human promotion, in the conviction that proclaiming the Gospel restores hope to the most vulnerable and contributes to building a more just and inclusive society.
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